FORMULA 1

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LOWE: WE’RE LATE BUT NOT FOR LACK OF INCREDIBLE TEAM EFFORT

Williams Chief Technical Officer Paddy Lowe has finally broken his silence amid the crisis that has engulfed his team as they delayed getting their season going until 3pm today when George Russell finally drove out the pitlane for an afternoon shakedown and system check on the FW42.

Lowe oversaw last year’s FW41 disaster and this year his reputation has taken a further knock as the faltered ahead of the season, denying their two new drivers – Robert Kubica and rookie George Russell much-needed track time

In the team report, Lowe is quoted, “It’s very disappointing to miss two days of this first test in Barcelona, but we are very happy today that we got the car out for the afternoon session.”

“We’re late but not for the lack of incredible effort from the whole team both in the factory and here in the garage. We spent the afternoon doing a number of systems checks and various data gathering programmes without any significant reliability issues, so we are happy with that as a first look at the FW42.”

“This puts us in good shape to get down to some more significant programmes starting tomorrow morning. We have missed a lot of time, but we are looking forward at this stage and we will make the very best use of the five days remaining of winter testing.”

“Thank you to all the staff for their teamwork and dedication in getting this car out today,” added Lowe.

Russell spoke of his first run in the new car, “It was amazing to finally drive the FW42. Today we focused purely on install laps, shaking the car down and data gathering.”

“Our focus was not on performance runs so I can’t judge the overall potential of the car, but I’m excited that we will get a full day of running tomorrow,” added the reigning Formula 2 Champion.

Lowe’s absence forced Claire Williams into the media frontline to which she said of the technical chief, “I’ve been reading a lot of speculation about Paddy’s position. Right now all I’m focused on, all the team should be focused on, is the car and making sure the car is in the right place.”

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BARCELONA DAY 3: KVYAT SURPRISES ALL IN THE TORO ROSSO

Toro Rosso driver Daniil Kvyat surprised the establishment by claiming top spot on the timesheets at the end of the third day of Formula 1 preseason testing at Circuit de Catalunya in Spain.

The Russian went out with about ten minutes remaining in the day and popped a best lap of  1:17.704 just pipping Kimi Raikkonen who topped the screens for most of the day in the Alfa Romeo.

It was a strong day by Kvyat and Honda in particular who clearly unleashed a taste of their ‘party mode’ to grab the headlines after another busy day in Barcelona, in which he completed an impressive 137 laps.

Notably, Max Verstappen in the Honda-powered Red Bull RB15 was fifth fastest, a full second slower with 134 laps to his credit.

As mentioned, Raikkonen set the pace for most of the day, the first driver to break 78 seconds around the Spanish Grand Prix venue but ended second best by a fraction and 138 laps ticked off, more than any driver on the day.

After two subdued half days in the Renault, Daniel Ricciardo showed some muscle by setting the third fastest time in his 80 lap stint in the car he shared with Nico Hulkenberg on the day, the Aussie seven tenths faster than his new teammate.

After dominating the first two days, Ferrari were more low key as Vettel pounded out 134 laps in his way to the fourth best time on his last day in the SF90 this week.

Almost at the foot of the timing screens were the Mercedes, obviously not at all interested in slugging it out in testing and revealing their true hand but at the same time triggering the question: Do Merc have a problem?

Unlikely, but not implausible. As usual, time will tell, maybe tomorrow (Day 4) the World Champions will tease…

What they did not get in times they certainly excelled with mileage as together Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas the W10 amassed a whopping 182 laps, by far more than any of their rivals.

Pietro Fittipaldi got another run in the Haas, before handing over to Romain Grosjean who went on to post the seventh-fastest time. The pair racking up 117 laps.

There were five red flag stoppages during the eight hours on track all triggered by the Aemrican team’s new car, the team discovering an ignition problem as the cause.

The headrest issue on the VF19 was sorted out by the team, the issue forced Kevin Magnussen to cut short his first run on Tuesday.

Finally the Williams FW42 arrived in Barcelona, and around 3pm it made it onto the track for what was very much an installation and systems check run with George Russell at the wheel. For now, the relief that the car actually runs was palpable around the team garage!

After three days of preseason testing things may appear somewhat topsy turvy, but until Mercedes actually turn up the horsepower, it’s all a bit of a guessing game.

In closing, shortly before Kvyat’s time topping run, Honda released this cheeky tweet:

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MAGNETI MARELLI BECOMES OFFICIAL PARTNER OF ALFA ROMEO

Alfa Romeo Racing is delighted to announce that Magneti Marelli has become an Official Partner of the Team.

Magneti Marelli is a leading manufacturer of systems and components for the automotive industry, with a strong presence in international motorsport. The company will supply Alfa Romeo Racing with their high-quality products which will be integrated in the team’s cars competing in the 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship.

The Magneti Marelli logo will be proudly featured on both race cars.

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal Alfa Romeo Racing and CEO Sauber Motorsport AG: “We are glad to have Magneti Marelli on board as an Official Partner of Alfa Romeo Racing. Magneti Marelli will not only supply us with some of the best products available on the market, but also brings another historical brand with vast experience in motorsport to our team. We are confident that we will have a successful collaboration which will support us in our mission of fighting for ambitious results in 2019.”

Ermanno Ferrari, CEO Magneti Marelli: “We are particularly proud and honoured of this partnership, in which we find the same features of performance, innovation and passion that characterize our approach and our 100-years history. We are also thrilled to support a team represented by such a strong and exciting line-up of drivers such as Kimi and Antonio. With our brand on the livery and our technology in the car, we reaffirm our commitment to supporting the world’s very best motorsport teams.”

About Magneti Marelli:

Magneti Marelli designs and produces advanced systems and components for the automotive industry. With 85 production units, 15 R&D centers in 20 countries, approximately 44,000 employees and a turnover of 8.2 billion Euro in 2017, the group supplies all the major carmakers in Europe, North and South America and the Asia Pacific region. The business areas include Electronic Systems, Lighting, Powertrain, Suspension and Shock Absorbing Systems, Exhaust Systems, Aftermarket Parts & Services, Plastic Components and Modules, Motorsport.

MIKA: The Alfa this season is simply stunning.

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BARCELONA MORNING 3: RAIKKONEN PUSHES FERRARI OFF THE TOP

Alfa Romeo driver Kimi Raikkonen produced the fastest lap so far in Formula 1’s preseason testing to push his previous team, Ferrari, off the top of the lunchtime leaderboard on Wednesday.

It was the first time since testing started on Monday at the Circuit de Catalunya that Ferrari had not led at the end of a session.

The Finn, returning to the Swiss-based team previously known as Sauber, lapped with a best time of one minute 17.762 seconds on the softest, and fastest, C5 tyre compound.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, his teammate last season, was second fastest in 1:18.350.

Raikkonen’s lap was also the first time a team had gone faster in 2019 than they managed in last year’s pre-season testing.

Champions Mercedes continued to keep their powder dry, with Finland’s Valtteri Bottas the slowest of the nine cars on track but doing more laps than anyone else — 88 to Vettel’s 80, both on the same medium C3 tyre.

Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg was third fastest in 1:18.800.

McLaren, whose performance has been encouraging over the first two days, missed the first two hours after what they described as “some overnight changes” to the car but managed to get Spaniard Carlos Sainz out for 27 laps before lunch.

Williams continued to be absent from the track but were expected to appear in the afternoon after their much-delayed car reached the track in the early hours after problems finishing building it on time.

British rookie George Russell was scheduled to drive the opening laps for the former champions who finished bottom of the constructors’ table in 2018.

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WILLIAMS FW42 ON TRACK WITH RUSSELL ON DUTY

The Williams FW42 finally made it to Barcelona, the team burning the midnight oil to get their 2019 Formula 1 car out on track two and a half days late with rookie George Russell tasked to begin testing for the team in crisis.

The team raced against time to get their car ready, first missing the scheduled shakedown and the first two days in Spain.

It was a big blow for Robert Kubica’s comeback as well as rookie George Russell who really need as much seat time as possible, but were forced to watch from the sidelines as their rivals pounded the tarmac.

Moving forward, the team announced the line-up for the remaining day and a half.

• Wednesday 20 February: George Russell
• Thursday 21 February: Robert Kubica (AM), George Russell (PM)

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HAMILTON: FERRARI ALWAYS LOOK STRONG BUT WE FOCUS ON THE JOB

Reigning Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton shrugged off Ferrari’s testing pace on Wednesday while recognising that he and Mercedes faced their toughest challenge yet as they seek to stretch their domination of the top flight into a sixth successive season.

Ferrari, overall runners-up last year, have led the timesheets for the first two days of testing at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya and have also done plenty of laps with their new SF90 car.

Sebastian Vettel, the four times champion who is partnered by young Monegasque Charles Leclerc this year, said on Monday his Ferrari had been “close to perfection”.

Mercedes, winners of both titles for the past five years, have also been pounding out the mileage without setting any eye-catching times.

“They (Ferrari) have been looking great,” Hamilton, who will be chasing his sixth title, told reporters. “For us it’s been just digging deep, trying to understand the car, Pretty much the same as the beginning of every year.

“The Ferraris always look strong, particularly in the last few years they look very strong right at the beginning so it’s to be expected.”

Ferrari won the first two races of last year with a car that seemed quicker than the Mercedes but the champions came back strongly and Hamilton ended the year with 11 wins to Vettel’s tally of five.

Last year Ferrari — who won six successive constructors’ titles between 1999 and 2004 — were fastest in testing but it was still Hamilton who put his Mercedes on pole position at the first race in Melbourne with a circuit record time.

“At the moment I don’t really hold any worry about anything,” said the 34-year-old Briton, who conceded that Ferrari did appear to have produced a better package than last season.

“I just try to focus on our job. I don’t know what everyone’s doing, there’s different fuel loads. I’ve been in this business a long time so I know how it goes over the first week and into the second.

“It’s not a time where we need to be focusing on others. We let everyone else do their thing and really try to focus on digging deep, making sure our processes are better than ever before, analysing the data better than ever before.”

Hamilton said the W10 Mercedes felt similar to last year’s W09, despite aerodynamic rule changes, and he was in the best shape of his life physically.

“I’m here for round seven with the team,” he said. “This is going to be the most challenging year, I think, of our partnership. And I still love racing so nothing really changes there.”

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Release date confirmed for F1's Netflix series

The Netflix-produced series documenting last year’s Formula 1 championship is to be released during the build-up to the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

A crew from Netflix were present at each Grand Prix in 2018 in order to capture footage and insight to form a 10-part series.

The programme, which runs with the title Formula 1: Drive to Survive, will be released on March 8, while a trailer was published on Wednesday.

“As we move into a new generation of Formula 1 we are thrilled to announce our new docuseries Formula 1: Drive to Survive,” said F1’s Director of Media Rights Ian Holmes.

“This truly unique series embodies the sport and helps us to showcase and unearth the untold stories on and off the track.

“Partnering with Netflix to create an original series puts us at the forefront of becoming a media and entertainment brand and attracting new fans to the sport.”

Coming globally to Netflix on March 8.

 

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F1 testing 2019: The Mercedes mystery

Formula 1 champion team Mercedes has spent testing so far near the bottom of the Barcelona timesheets. What's the story?
Is that a sign of its supreme confidence and a focus on heavily-fuelled long runs, or does it have anything to worry about?

Motorsport Network’s F1 reporter Scott Mitchell and technical consultant Gary Anderson unravel what we've learned about Mercedes so far this week.

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F1 tech gallery: New front wings in the spotlight

Formula 1’s new 2019 regulations have resulted in an intriguing divergence when it comes to the design of front wings.
For the first time in years, there has been a dramatically different approach from teams about how best to approach the regulations – with some outfits moving away from a conventional design. The regulation changes were made with the intention of reducing the front wing’s complexity and the ‘outwash’ they generated. 

If successful it would alter the entire aerodynamic wake profile of the car and allow for a chasing car to be less affected by the lead car, in order that they may stay within close proximity and affect a pass.

The change in regulations have not only resulted in wider wings and the endplate being placed further out, they’ve also sought to limit or eradicate many of the outwashing elements that had cropped up over the last few years.

With these tools taken away from them, the teams have continued to search for ways to recreate it. As such we see a wide array of solutions up and down the grid, with some more aggressive in their search for outwash than others.

Click on the images below to see how teams have diverged in their approach…

Mercedes W10

The Mercedes solution is one of what you would consider the more conventional options, with five full height flaps that traverse the wings entire span all the way to the top edge of the endplate. The flaps, under wing strakes and slot gap separators are all shapes or angled in a way that push flow outward. It has broken the mould when it comes to the endplate though, as rather than be angled outward it kicks in at the rear, perhaps forcing a larger flow structure to propagate.

Ferrari SF90

Ferrari has chosen a more drastic design route, shaping the upper flaps so that they taper away towards the endplate. The endplate is angled out too, as the team look to drive as much airflow outboard as it can.

Red Bull RB15

Red Bull has opted for the more conventional option, with the full span flaps angled up toward the top edge of the endplate. It hopes to use the flap, wing adjuster, slot gap separators and endplates design to drive flow both up and around the front tyre.

Renault RS19

You’ll see from the shape of the flaps and their anchor position on the endplate that Renault’s design is what you’d consider a halfway house approach.

Haas VF19

Haas too has this middle-of-the-road solution, albeit it has opted to use a pronounced and outwardly angled wing adjuster in order to compartmentalise the various roles that the wing undertakes.

Toro Rosso STR14

Toro Rosso has a more aggressive solution, with its flaps angled down and flattened out as they meet with the endplate. This helps to drive the flow outboard as part of their working relationship with the raised leading edge on the mainplane, which is also used to expose the twin under-mounted strakes and a footplate mounted at the base of the endplate.

McLaren MCL34

All of the teams have opted to raise the outer section of the mainplane to help circulate airflow and use the inner edge of the footplate as a sort of air skirt, but McLaren’s approach is perhaps the most aggressive.  It’s a decision that’s been made with the consideration of its underwing strakes too, as they are shaped and reach forward more so than any other teams do. The upper, outermost section of the flaps do droop down but only momentarily and certainly not with the same vigour as the likes of Alfa Romeo, Ferrari or Toro Rosso.

Racing Point RP19

Racing Point has admitted that the specification that we see the RP19 running at pre-season testing in Barcelona will be vastly different from the one that rolls out for FP1 in Australia.  The front wing used by the team is also pretty similar to the one we saw them test back in Hungary last season, with the now limited five flap design running the entire span of the wing to the endplate.  However, where it differs is that it has taken what could be described as a halfway house solution, with the three uppermost flaps tapering off and flattening out as they reach the endplate.

Alfa Romeo C38

Alfa Romeo has decided that fortune favours the bold, as its wing takes the concept seen on the Ferrari and Toro Rosso and goes even further. It has completely compartmentalised the wing, with the uppermost flap of the stack only having a short slot in it, rather than a full length one. This is in order for the flap to behave in a specific way, whilst getting the vortex shedding effect at the tip to help shape and control the Y250 vortex. Outboard of the wing adjuster (which will only add or reduce angle on inner flap stack) the flaps flatten and swoop down dramatically toward the base of the outwardly angled endplate, forcing as much flow as possible across and around the front tyre.  The footplate arc also starts out quite wide and tapers off at the rear, while a Gurney tab resides atop it to create an adverse pressure gradient.

Conclusion

Fears of a single design philosophy being seen at the front end of the cars this year, owing to the restrictive nature of the regulations, have certainly been cast aside as the cars hit the track in Barcelona. 

As whilst you can almost split them up into two distinct camps there’s actually enough design differentiation to suggest we actually have nine individual design concepts, with Williams likely bringing a tenth when its full aerodynamic package appears.

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Haas aiming to fix "little gremlins" after disrupted day

Haas team boss Gunther Steiner says his team must fix the "little gremlins" after suffering electrical trouble three times on the third day of Formula 1 pre-season testing in Barcelona.

After an electrical problem forced the VF-19 to stop on track on the first morning of testing with Romain Grosjean at the wheel, it stopped once on Wednesday morning for reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi and twice for Grosjean in the afternoon.

The American squad still managed to log 117 laps, but Steiner says the team is yet to solve the issue. 

“It’s annoying more than frustrating, the car has good potential, the drivers like it, we just need to sort out these little gremlins,” said Steiner.

“We just need to find what causes it. We still have time to find it, therefore I am not too desperate. I’m not liking it, to be honest, I could do without it, but still it is nothing to be desperate about, we will fix it.”

Steiner confirmed that an electrical issue caused a fuel pressure issue on Monday, while the issues on Wednesday were because “the engine could run safely anymore so we had to stop it”.

Despite being halted three times in testing already, Grosjean said that the problems were “a part of testing” and that the team was making good progress with the new car.

“A few electronics issues to work out, but that shouldn't be too complicated,” he said. “It's not [been] a bad day to be fair. 

“Yes, we came back a couple of times in the 4x4 and had to stop the car on track. But that's part of testing and we're finding our limitations and what we can do better on the car.

“We don't want to have them [problems], but you don't want to have them in Melbourne. So we're quite happy it's happening here and we can check them out.

“The main thing here is the car is really good, a good step has been made from Monday. I was already happy on Monday, but I'm more happy now. 

“I think we're getting better and better, and really improving the car and working in a good direction. So [I’m] very much looking forward to working more tomorrow.”

Grosjean will drive the Haas again on Thursday, before handing over to Kevin Magnussen. The latter was supposed to drive on Tuesday afternoon, but was ruled out by an issue with his headrest. 

Steiner confirmed that problem had been solved and that the Dane would return in the line-up in the afternoon.

“It will be ready, it will be ok,” added Steiner. "We just had to modify the headrest and the seat. Nothing big, it’s an adaption. 

“Yesterday [Tuesday] there was not time to do it in a safe manor. It’s being done here [at the track in Barcelona].”

 

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Perez fears Mexico could lose F1 race for decades

Sergio Perez says that the future of his home Formula 1 race in Mexico is “not looking good”, fearing that if his country loses its slot on the calendar it could take decades to regain it.
Mexico's contract for the race ends this season, and negotiations with Liberty for a new deal to start in 2020 were turned upside-down this week when the country’s president said that the national government could not continue to subsidise the event.

“It's not looking good," admitted Perez. “Hopefully we can get some good news later on. I think it's very important for our country to keep it.

“It's a great place for Formula 1. I mean the last four races have been the best, at a great venue. So hopefully we can keep it.

"There are so many countries out there that want F1 grands prix. So once you lose your place, I think it's very difficult to get it back. It cost us so much to get, but now if we lose a place it probably be the end.

"I think we would need to wait another 30, 50 years to get it back, and I think it’s a great exposure for your country to have a grand prix. So it would really be a shame to lose the Mexican Grand Prix.”

Asked by Motorsport.com if he’d been in touch with people back home such as his sponsor Carlos Slim, he said: “I'm in contact with the organisers, all of them.

"More as a Mexican to be honest, because as a Mexican I really want my country to be seen all around the world to show how good Mexico is. And I think F1 is what offers you that platform.”

Perez doesn’t know if alternative backing for his home event can be found.

“On that I have no idea, I’m not in charge on that and I don't really know," he said. "I guess it's hard because all the benefit is done for the government, so I don't know if it can be done another way."

The Racing Point driver also acknowledged that the loss of the race would be a major blow for future generations of Mexican racing drivers.

“The grand prix generated a lot of interest for the young generation," Perez said. "To race in your home country... probably before the Mexican Grand Prix, I spent the last 15 years without racing in Mexico.

"So it will be a shame, a big shame for the new generations, for the sport and for our country.”

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Giovinazzi willing to follow Raikkonen's driving style

Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi is willing to try to follow Kimi Raikkonen's driving style this year because it would be a "mistake" for him to spurn his teammate's experience.
Giovinazzi has earned a full-time F1 drive at the re-badged Sauber team alongside 2007 world champion Raikkonen, who lost his Ferrari seat to Charles Leclerc.

After sampling Alfa’s C38 for the first time on day two of pre-season testing at Barcelona, Giovinazzi said he will try to drive like Raikkonen to help further the team’s development.

“I think it will be just a mistake to do it a different way from him,” said Giovinazzi when asked by Motorsport.com if their driving styles were similar or he would go in his own direction.

“Now my target is to work from him, just learn from him.

“The right thing for the team as well is to go in the same way, and also it's maybe better for myself to go in Kimi's way, and drive in Kimi's way.

“Just [to] make a lot easier also for the team.”

Giovinazzi told Motorsport.com earlier this month that he felt “lucky” to be partnering Raikkonen, a veteran of 291 grand prix starts.

After two years of development work for Ferrari on the team’s simulator and various on-track opportunities with the Maranello team and Sauber, Giovinazzi said working for himself in pre-season testing made a good change.

“It’s a different testing [experience] now,” he said. “Finally I can work for me, for my car, and this is what I’m doing.

“I’m trying to take all the feedback, give to the team and try to work a lot with the team and with Kimi as well to build a good car.

“I followed Kimi’s day [on Monday], we can do a really good job together.

“Kimi has a lot more experience than me, so I just need to listen to him and give my feedback.”

Giovinazzi echoed Raikkonen’s complimentary comments about Alfa’s car, describing it as “easy to drive”.

After a “positive” first day of testing the Italian said he would do everything possible to make the most of an opportunity he is relishing.

“I waited too long, two years, but finally today I was really happy,” said Giovinazzi, who crashed out of the second of two substitute appearances for Sauber at the start of 2017.

“[It felt] like I woke up for Christmas.

“I just want to jump in on Thursday, learn as much as I can and improve the car and make sure in Melbourne everything works well.

“I know this will be my full season, so I just need to do a lot of work.

“When Melbourne will start, everything will come really fast.”

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Ferrari trials Mercedes-style wheel rims

Ferrari has debuted a new wheel rim design in Formula 1 testing in Barcelona, taking inspiration from the much talked about rear wheel assembly run by Mercedes last season.
Trialling the new solution on the second day of testing, the new wheel rim features a number of raised sections in order to control temperatures within the wheel.

These draw heat away from the tyre, ensuring that the heat distribution within the rubber is kept relatively even - cutting down the level of thermal degradation at the rears.

Mercedes first debuted the scalloped rims in last year's Belgian Grand Prix, having found multiple issues with its tyre management capabilities.

These remained on the car throughout the rest of 2018, helping the team to six victories.

Following suit, Ferrari has tested with similar wheels to help bleed out some of the heat from the rear tyres in their own efforts to manage the level of wear and blistering experienced at high temperatures.

In comparison to the design run by Mercedes, Ferrari's features more raised sections to expand on the desired effect of heat management.

McLaren also launched with a similar wheel design last week, covered in black thermal paint to minimise the heat transfer to the tyres further.

It is unknown whether the wheels extend to the same extremes as Mercedes's arrangement from last season, which featured a wheel spacer to minimise the transfer of temperatures from the brake assembly.

The design also featured a number of small holes leading from the spacer to the rim, transferring air outboard to cool the wheel.

Wednesday morning aero testing

The third day of running kicked off with a number of teams using aero sensors to analyse their designs in the real world.

These are used to correlate data from the track to the data originally developed through wind tunnel and CFD testing.

Mercedes and Red Bull used the "bird cage" array of Pitot tubes - a common fixture of official practice sessions - to determine the flow field pressures around certain components.

This is to ensure that the airflow is behaving as predicted, and for teams to make changes to any simulations if there are any disparities.

Affixing large tower sensors to the rear wing, Ferrari was also monitoring pressure, looking at the areas immediately around that section of the car to determine the efficiency of the rear-end aerodynamics.

Toro Rosso also ran with a number of sensors, this time around the nose and front wing endplates, monitoring the amount of flex in the front wing to ensure that the aerodynamic components behave as expected.

 

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LECLERC: WE DON’T HOW MUCH THE OTHERS ARE SANDBAGGING

On the final day of preseason testing in Barcelona, Ferrari newcomer Charles Leclerc has played down talk of that his team are faster already than Formula 1 champions Mercedes and said he suspected rivals were hiding their true pace.

Speaking after Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas told reporters on Thursday that Ferrari looked like they were a step ahead in pre-season testing, the Monegasque suggested appearances were deceptive.

“The performance has no sense for now,” the 21-year-old said on the final day of the first test at the Circuit de Catalunya. “It remains testing and they are probably not pushing and we are not either.

“We don’t how much the others are sandbagging,” he added, referring to the pretence of being weaker than is actually the case.

Bottas, teammate to five-times world champion Lewis Hamilton, had said Ferrari looked “very strong” after they lapped fastest on the first two days.

The sport’s oldest and most successful team have also covered an impressive amount of mileage in their new SF90 car while Mercedes have been working through their programme without setting any truly eye-catching times.

“No matter which kind of fuel load or engine modes they are running, whatever you try to correct that for, in any case they are quick on short runs and long runs,” said Bottas.

“I think we feel at this point they are maybe a bit ahead, but obviously it’s impossible to make detailed calculations. It is very early days. With the new rules its going to be a big development race.”

Bottas said the cars would be very different by the time of the Melbourne race on March 17 and Mercedes had new parts coming before then.

The Finn warned, however, that even with the upgrades Mercedes still needed to make the car better and quicker, with work to do on the balance.

“It feels a little bit different (to last year), at least in these (winter) conditions,” he said. “It seems to be again, with the tyres, quite a narrow window to get them to work.

“It seems like balance-wise a little bit on a knife-edge at the moment. But there’s nothing fundamentally wrong, we feel. I think there is definitely a lot of potential but it is not yet quite there.

“In the team, (there is a) kind of … excitement to discover more about the car and really try to improve it because at this point it looks like we are not miles ahead of everyone. It seems like Ferrari are in a better place.”

Mercedes have said they intend to focus more on speed and performance at next week’s second test after mainly concentrating on reliability until now.

Hamilton also recognised Ferrari were quick when he spoke to reporters earlier in the week but said that was the case in testing last year and Mercedes prevailed in the end.

Mercedes are chasing a record sixth successive title double this season.

Ferrari last won a constructors’ championship in 2008, the year of Hamilton’s first drivers’ title with McLaren.

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BARCELONA DAY 4: HULKENBERG ENDS THE WEEK FASTEST OF ALL

Renault driver Nico Hulkenberg ended the final day of the first Formula 1 preseason testing at Circuit de Catalunya in Spain, with five drivers dipping in the 77 seconds zone.

Hulkenberg’s best time of 1:17.393 was the quickest of the four days in Barcelona, and came in the afternoon after he took over the cockpit of the RS19 from Daniel Ricciardo who also found some pace after a subdued first three days.

With an hour to go, the German stopped on track during an out lap late in the day and ended with 24 laps on his chart.

In the morning session, Ricciardo ended his stint second fastest but dropped to third by the end of the day thanks to his teammate’s time topping effort. He covered 24 laps.

Impressing again on his second day in a Formula 1 car was Alex Albon who topped the timing screens at lunchtime in the Honda-powered Toro Rosso. His early time was good enough for second at the end of the day, with 136 laps to his credit.

After three sessions in which they kept their powder dry, Mercedes finally emerged to end the day with Valtteri Bottas in fourth and Lewis Hamilton fifth, the pair putting on 115 laps during the course of the day in which they were starting to unleash performance.

Charles Leclerc was sixth in the Ferrari, the team’s new driver focusing on long runs and high fuel load simulations. He did 138 laps in the process.

McLaren’s Lando Norris was next up with 132 laps on his chart, ahead of fellow rookie Antonio Giovinazzi who did the most laps of all on Thursday (154) in the Alfa Romeo, but also twice brought out the red flags, while British rookie George Russell managed the fewest (17) in the Williams.

Robert Kubica was also on track for Williams, who only started testing on Wednesday afternoon, and did 48 laps. He was still 10th and slowest, more than a second and a half off Canadian Lance Stroll for Racing Point.

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KUBICA: THERE WERE COMPROMISES BUT FINALLY WE GOT THE CAR

Robert Kubica’s fairytale return to Formula 1 got off to a disappointing start as his team missed the bulk of the first four days of Formula 1 preseason testing at Circuit de Catalunya in Spain.

On the final morning of testing in Barcelona, three days behind schedule, he finally climbed into the Williams FW42 which was “compromised” so that the team could make it on to the track.

Kubica did 48 laps during his stint with his best effort slowest of all by nearly four seconds to the top time and 1.5 seconds down on the next best, the lack of track time clearly hampering their performance.

Of his brief time in the new car, the Pole told reporters in Barcelona, “You can get a feel of it, it’s not like the car is completely off. I think there is still something to put on to the car, but probably not a lot, for sure there are things that were compromised.”

“It’s not right that I talk about them. I’m here for driving, so I have to concentrate on this. Finally, I have a car. Hopefully next week we can concentrate on preparing better for the first race because it’s close.”

“For me, it doesn’t feel like day four of testing, it feels like day one. I got the opportunity to do 12 laps to get a feel for the car, which is of course limiting. It wasn’t an easy morning.”

“I’ve been here since last Friday. I’ve never waited so long to get 12-14 laps, that I could drive my own pace. It wasn’t nice days for all the team but finally we got the car. In the end, the team did a good job to build it up as quickly as possible.”

Kubica revealed that the team had to build the FW42 “five times quicker than normal” so that they could get it to Spain for what is basically a shakedown for him and rookie teammate Goerge Russell who did the first tentative laps in the car late on Wednesday.

The Formula 2 champion took over the cockpit from his teammate for a final afternoon session.

Asked to compare the new car to its disastrous predecessor, Kubica said, “In some ways it is a step forward. For the others, not necessarily. The question is if we have done a bigger step forward and smaller backwards, because of regulations. Then it’s a question of balancing.”

“At this stage it’s not correct to talk about the performance of the car, or feelings. We will see next weekend,” added the one-time Grand Prix winner.

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BOTTAS: AT THIS POINT FERRARI ARE MAYBE A BIT AHEAD

Ferrari are looking stronger than Mercedes in testing and the Formula 1 champions have work to do before next month’s season-opening race in Australia, Valtteri Bottas said on Thursday.

The Finn, teammate to five-times F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, gave his assessment on the final day of the first four-day pre-season test at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya.

Ferrari were fastest on the first two days and the Italians have also covered an impressive amount of mileage in their new SF90 car while Mercedes have been working through their programme without setting any eye-catching times.

“They do seem very strong,” Bottas said of Ferrari, Mercedes’ closest rivals last year. “No matter which kind of fuel load or engine modes they are running, whatever you try to correct that for, in any case they are quick on short runs and long runs.”

“I think we feel at this point they are maybe a bit ahead, but obviously it’s impossible to make detailed calculations. It is very early days. With the new rules its going to be a big development race.”

Bottas said the cars would be very different by the time of the Melbourne race on March 17 and Mercedes had new parts coming before then.

The Finn warned, however, that even with the upgrades Mercedes still needed to make the car better and quicker, with work to do on the balance.

“It feels a little bit different (to last year), at least in these (winter) conditions,” he said. “It seems to be again, with the tyres, quite a narrow window to get them to work.

“It seems like balance-wise a little bit on a knife-edge at the moment. But there’s nothing fundamentally wrong, we feel. I think there is definitely a lot of potential but it is not yet quite there.

“In the team, (there is a) kind of … excitement to discover more about the car and really try to improve it because at this point it looks like we are not miles ahead of everyone. It seems like Ferrari are in a better place.”

Mercedes have said they intend to focus more on speed and performance at next week’s second test after mainly concentrating on reliability until now.

Hamilton also recognised Ferrari were quick when he spoke to reporters earlier in the week but said that was the case in testing last year and Mercedes prevailed in the end.

Ferrari last won a constructors’ championship in 2008, the year of Hamilton’s first drivers’ title with McLaren.

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US GP ORGANISERS BOTCH PAPERWORK AND LOSE OVER $20-MILLION

Two of Formula 1’s three races in North America are facing financial issues that are raising concern about their future, with the Circuit of the Americas organisers losing out on a multi-million local government tax rebate.

Organizers of the United States Grand Prix won’t be reimbursed at least $20-million from the state of Texas for the 2018 race after missing a paperwork deadline set by law. While new questions lurk about the future of the Mexican Grand Prix after the country’s new president suggested the government may not spend on the race like it has the last four years.

Both races have been popular with drivers and fans, and enjoy key dates on the F1 calendar. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton clinched season championships in Texas in 2015 and in Mexico City in 2017 and 2018.

Officials in Formula 1 and at the Circuit of the Americas, host of the U.S. Grand Prix, did not immediately respond to requests for comment from AP on Wednesday. Both races get huge government financial support.

The U.S. Grand Prix has reaped about $150-million since 2012 from Texas’ Major Events Reimbursement Program, which is controlled by Governor Greg Abbott’s office. That money has been considered critical to paying F1’s annual rights fee to host the race.

In 2015, track President Bobby Epstein said a $5-million reduction that year could have jeopardized the future of the race, but it has survived.

Officials at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin have known for months the 2018 money wasn’t coming. Track officials were informed in an 8 October letter – 11 days before the United States Grand Prix – that race organizers would not get money from the fund because they had missed a state-mandated deadline to submit an anti-human trafficking plan 30 days before the event.

That plan wasn’t submitted until 3 October and a previous letter of temporary approval was rescinded. Two months later, track President Bobby Epstein contributed $50,000 to Governor Greg Abbott, who had just won re-election.

The state requires major events that apply to the fund to have anti-human trafficking plans in part to help combat spikes in prostitution. The missed deadline and lost money were first reported Wednesday by the Austin American-Statesman. Abbott’s office provided a copy of the letter to the AP.

Epstein didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment. Abbott spokesman John Wittman said the state had no choice but to withhold the money.

Any future damage to the U.S. Grand Prix is yet to be measured and could still be mitigated. Wittman said the state is already working with race organizers to plan for the 2019 race. Formula One has it on the calendar for 3 November with no suggestion it could be wiped out. The F1 season starts March 17 at the Australian Grand Prix.

“The State of Texas and COTA have a productive partnership that has had a tremendous economic impact on the city of Austin and the state as a whole, and our office is already working with COTA on next year’s race,” Wittman said.

Meanwhile, the 2019 Mexican Grand Prix will be the final race in a five-year contract, with the Mexican government providing about $213-million in the five years. Formula One returned to Mexico City after a 23-year absence and the race has drawn huge crowds each of the past four years and twice crowned Hamilton as champion.

But Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said this week that government financial support for the race could be reduced or vanish as money is directed to other projects, such as a 1,000-mile railway.

“If it does not imply money, I will endorse it. But I’m a little penny pincher in these cases. I don’t know how are the Formula 1 contracts, but if they are not signed already we can’t do it. In many cases they were paid by the tourism fund and now those funds are going to be used for the Maya train.”

Racing Point driver Sergio Perez, the only Mexican driver in F1, said he doesn’t want to lose a race that can showcase his country. This season’s Mexican Grand Prix is 27 October.

“It does not look good, but I wish we can have some good news later, I think it*s important for our country to keep it,” Perez said, noting the massive crowds the last four years.

“There are a lot of countries that want to host a Grand Prix, and once you lose your spot it*s very hard to get it back. It cost us so much to get it, and if we lose it now it’s probably the end and we might have to wait 30 or 50 years to get it back. It would be a shame to lose it.”

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Lewis Hamilton warns against raising pressure on Charles Leclerc

Lewis Hamilton says it would be “unfair” to apply unreasonable expectations on Charles Leclerc, as the Monegasque youngster prepares to step up to Ferrari.

Leclerc has joined Ferrari after an impressive rookie campaign with Sauber and will partner Sebastian Vettel, who was beaten by Hamilton in world title fights in 2017 and 2018.

Hamilton, though, has cautioned that Leclerc must be given time to grow within Ferrari’s environment, pointing to Vettel’s results and experience.

“I think it would be unfair to put that kind of expectation on his shoulders,” said Hamilton on the notion of Leclerc beating Vettel.

“It’s only his second year. He’s young, he’s going to make mistakes.

“He’s obviously very quick, very talented, and most likely he is going to surprise many, many people.

“But you’re talking about a veteran out there now who’s a four-time World Champion.

“There’s no substitute for experience, so it will be interesting to see how those two parallels work together.

“Sebastian is a multi-World Champion, and Charles has a lot of experience to go through.

“The great thing with a youngster is that you’re energised beyond belief and determined, and you have more energy than the elders do, so as I say it’ll be interesting to watch.

“I’ve been in that same position that they’re in, at McLaren, so you’ve seen it in one realm, it’ll be interested to see it in that one.”

Hamilton has also backed team-mate Valtteri Bottas to bounce back strongly after a disappointing 2018 campaign, in which the Finn placed a win-less fifth in the standings.

“I’m not someone that generally has expectations of anything, but I would assume that he’s going to try and be more aggressive this year,” he said.

“I’m sure he’s going to be pushing harder, I’m sure he’s pushing harder on his training. He’s always been incredibly determined since the day he got here, and that’s not wavered.

“I’m sure he knows where he’s got to put his focuses to, working with his guys on the other side.

“I see the top of his head beyond the screen, so I don’t really know about his difference in approach, but I’ll see that once we get into the racing this season.”

MIKA: I'd love to see Charles beat Vettel this season...

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Russell: New Williams feels "nice", "stable" despite setbacks

George Russell says the delayed new Williams FW42 gave him a "good feeling" in Barcelona Formula 1 testing on Thursday, but he acknowledged that he has not yet explored the limits.
The FW42 arrived late to pre-season testing, logging its first laps on the afternoon of the third day and ending the first test week well short of the mileage accrued by every one of its rivals.

After debuting the car on Wednesday, Russell took over from Robert Kubica in the afternoon of the final day, and, like Kubica, he ran laps with the car fitted with an aero rake for logging data.

Russell did also get to run in a normal spec, although his final lap total for Thursday was just 17.

"It felt quite nice to be honest, it felt stable, and I had a good feeling from it,” said the Englishman. “At the moment I’m not fully on the limit, I still don’t know the limits of the car.

"I’m not going balls-out attack to know where that is yet.

“Until I fully wring everything out of it it’s going to be difficult to know where we’re at and the full limitations or where we need to improve.

“It was very important to get some mileage under our belt, and just get a feel for the car really.

"Although I’ve only done about 11 proper laps with the car it still gives us a good understanding of where we’re at, the limitations, and what we need to work on for next week.”

Russell's best lap was 3.6 seconds off the pace set by Renault's Nico Hulkenberg, and 1.3s off the next-slowest car - the Racing Point RP19 of Lance Stroll.

Like Kubica, who said that the FW42 was running in a "compromised" state, Russell admitted that the team is not yet fielding the definitive 2019 car.

“It’s definitely not in its full state let’s say, we’ve definitely got some work to do just to optimise everything. Because it was all last minute, things weren’t 100%, and it was a matter of just trying to get the car on track in whatever means possible, really.

“That was important enough in itself. I think we just need to work hard over the weekend to make sure we hit the ground running on Tuesday next week, and try and rack some miles up.

“At this stage because we’ve done such limited mileage we’ve no idea what state the car is going to be in performance-wise. We’re still trying to be positive, see how things progress over the weekend, and see how things progress next week.

“Obviously we are a step behind the others just in terms of experience, I’ve got full faith in the guys, and we need to make the most of it now.”

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Red Bull says it had never had such good pre-season

Red Bull says it had its best ever pre-season test, on the back of its encouraging start with new engine partner Honda.
Although the team is aware that rival Ferrari appears to have the edge at the moment, Red Bull's motorsport advisor Helmut Marko said that it had never been more encouraged about progress than right now.

"So far if I talk about Red Bull and Toro Rosso, we had a very good time," Marko told Sky.

"I would say we never had such good preparation for the season. For both teams."

While Red Bull was always convinced that Honda could deliver enough power, Marko said the big question mark had been reliability.

However, with both Red Bull teams running without major trouble, Marko said those worries had been eased.

"It's a new period. We don't look back. We look forward," he said. "It's a very good relationship.

"The concern was of course reliability and so far that's not a problem at all. It's a new culture as well. But it fits well with our people."

Marko reckoned that Ferrari has emerged as the early favourite, but he believes Red Bull is in the mix and could win races with Honda in 2019.

"What I saw yesterday on the circuit, Ferrari for sure at the moment is the fastest car. Behind that it's Red Bull and Mercedes. Let's see what can do until Melbourne.

"But we are quite optimistic that this year we can win races from our own strength, and not only if others have trouble or special circuits like Monte Carlo or Singapore."

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Bottas: 2019 Mercedes balance currently on a ‘knife-edge’

Mercedes have looked to be keeping their performance cards pretty close to their chest during the first week of 2019 pre-season testing in Barcelona. But although many in the F1 paddock believe there’s an element of sand-bagging going on at the Silver Arrows, Valtteri Bottas has revealed that the current balance of the car is making it a bit of a handful to drive.

Both Bottas and team mate Lewis Hamilton avoided the softest two C4 and C5 Pirelli tyres for the first three days of testing, meaning that Mercedes’ name was uncharacteristically absent at the sharp end of the running. They finally showed some pace on Day 4 after both Bottas and Hamilton donned the C4 compound, dipping below the 1m 18s mark for the first time – but despite that, Bottas confirmed that there was an imbalance in the car that the team were still trying to dial out.

“It seems like, balance-wise, it’s a little bit on the knife-edge at the moment,” said Bottas.

“We’ve been improving massively in the first three days… [and] it’s nothing fundamentally wrong, I feel. I think there is a lot of potential, but it’s not yet quite there. But I feel a sense in the team of a bit of an excitement to discover more about the car and to improve it – because at this point, it looks like we are not miles ahead of everyone. It seems like… Ferrari are in a better place. So I think it motivates us, but obviously we would love to be ahead in Melbourne.”

Bottas revealed that Mercedes would be making improvements on the W10 all the way up to Melbourne, while still having four full days of pre-season testing ahead of them in Barcelona. Still, the Finn couldn’t deny that Ferrari – who grabbed the headlines by dominating the first two days in Barcelona as Mercedes were playing themselves in gently – looked to be a scarily potent force for 2019, judging by their pace in Spain so far.

“They do seem very strong, no matter which kind of fuel load or engine mode they’re running,” said Bottas. “Whatever you try to correct that for, in any case, they are quick – short runs and long runs. I think we feel, at this point, that they’re going to be a bit ahead, but obviously it’s impossible to make detailed calculation.

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A near miss for Hamilton and Kubica in testing

 

 

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F1 Pre-Season testing Highlights

 

 

 

 

Talking Points From Testing:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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BOTTAS: MY TARGET FOR THE YEAR IS TO WIN AS MUCH AS I CAN

Its no secret that 2019 is a do-or-die year for Valtteri Bottas, the Finn has massively underperformed relative to his teammate and anything other than regular wins and a title tilt will keep him in the most coveted seat in motor racing.

Bottas is no fool and knows exactly what went wrong last year, and now has to plot a plan to bounce back while waiting in the wings is young Esteban Ocon ready to step up should the driver of the #44 car not deliver on expectations this season.

In an interview with the official F1 website, the 29-year-old acknowledged his failings in 2018, “It was a disappointing season and it even made me nearly angry to myself that in my six years in Formula 1, I haven’t been achieving my target yet. I do have time, but I’m starting to realise that you definitely have only one career, and I don’t want to be in this situation again.”

“My target for the year is to win as much as I can – even though I didn’t win a race last year – and only one target for the whole season is the world championship for me personally, and for us as a team.”

“I still feel that I haven’t achieved anything in Formula 1, so for myself, I still have a lot to achieve. I do want to meet my targets… [and] I’m willing to do, basically, whatever it takes to achieve those, and really just mentally prepared to go all in for the year.”

“[Lewis and I] realised that if we can work together inside of the team, in the meetings, it’s benefitting us as drivers. But we both know at the same time that when we put the helmet on, when we’re in the car, we never want to be behind the other.”

“To fight against Lewis, I need to be at my very best and that comes [down] to many details. Driving-wise, this winter, I’ve been trying to attack and really think and learn about the main points [on how to beat him]; there are normally kind of trends that I have a deficit to Lewis, [certain] type of corners where that is happening.”

“So [I’ve been working on] all the details in the driving, as well as my approach to the race weekends, all racing situations, mind-set, attitude – everything.”

“I want this season to be my best season so far and not to leave any stone unturned. At the end of the season, I don’t want to think, ‘I wish I would have tried harder’ or ‘I would have done something differently’.”

“I’ll just try and be the perfect me I can be this year,” explained Bottas who will start his 119th Grand Prix when he lines up on the grid for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on 17 March.